Carnaval de Oruro, Bolivia!

When one hears Carnaval, everyone thinks of the Carnaval de Río de Janeiro in Brazil, or what I'd refer to as "A display of silicon", whereas the Carnaval of Gualeyguaychú in Argentina (which is basically the same type of Carnaval but in a smaller scale and more recent creation), and that of Bolivia, which is a cultural heritage

The Carnaval of Oruro in Bolivia, is simply the biggest event in Bolivia!! Without really knowing exactly when I should arrive in Oruro, and with incredible luck on my side, I ended up in a Bolivian home in Oruro, celebrating the biggest festival in Bolivia with Bolivians whom treated me like a family member :) Knowing locals saved me the trouble of booking for ultra expensive lodging during peak season, and got to see the Carnaval genuinely with Orureños (people from Oruro), whom spoke and explained to me their passion and the pride for this sacred weekend of the year. Unlike other carnaval, the one in Oruro is actually a pilgrimage and a folkloric expression. The dancers prepare anywhere from 3 months to a  year for this Carnaval. This ain't no easy feast as Oruro, a mining town, is situated at an altitude of 3,706m, and the dancers dance along an upward climbing path of 8-10km, which ends in the church of the central plaza. Once arrived at the church, the dancers kneel and proceed kneeling through the church all the way in front of the Virgin of Socavón in order to pray for favor, anything but monetary. The love of Bolivians and their dedication to dancing is beautifully displayed in this Carnaval!!! Young and old, men and women, dance to the songs dedicated to the Virgin of Socavón!! Ok perhaps it is just me, but I'm a sucker to men whom can and willing to dance!! Very impressive and fascinating Carnaval :) Truly one of a kind and not enough publicized!

The pilgrimage started around 7am on Saturday, March 6 and the procession goes on until around 3am. On this day, the dancers do not partake in the audience's beer drinking dance fest but solely dedicate on their dedication. However, on the Sunday, March 7, it was party for all :) The audience are also allowed to come down and take pictures with the dancers and dance amongst them. I learnt a few steps from the dancers as well !! They were all super friendly and willing to share a moment of their fame with us with a few snapshots for me to bring home. One of them even thanked me for partaking in this beautiful Carnaval. It is a party not to be missed!!!

By speaking with the locals, I found out that Bolivians, although the poorest country of South America, locals save all year in order to dance in this Carnaval. The inscription fee starts from $200US. The more important the character of the dance, the pricier it is, such as the angel in the "Diablada" dance for instance. Additionally, every year the costume has to be made new, thus the cost of it also starts around $200US. For dancers that are out of town, will have to come to Oruro for the dance practices as well!! Just to put it into perspective, minimum wage in Bolivia per month is a little over $100 dollar a month. This only goes to show how dedicated they are to this Carnaval and how important it is to Bolivians!

The whole preparation was a bit last minute, but Pepe, Gustavo and I managed to find last minute transportation from the village where we were, Villa Tunari, to Cochabamba. Once there, we picked up Gustavo's sister, Kelly, had a quick dinner and were off in a midnight bus to Oruro. We arrived bleary eyed at around 4am and were greated by aunt Nadez and a nice bed to take refuge in. A few hours later, we woke up in order not to miss the Carnaval! We stayed at the home of aunt Nadez, who is the mother of Pepe, whom is the cousin of Gustavo. Incredibly enough, the house of Aunt Nadez is actually RIGHT ON the path of the procession :) We were able to view the Carnaval in the comfort of the house, on the 3rd floor!! When that wasn't enough, Pepe had generously invited us to front seats in front of the church in the central plaza, where the dancers finish their pilgrimage. I really couldn't have imagined a better way to spend the Carnaval !!!

We enjoyed breakfast, lunch and dinner at the comfort of the home, and delicious meals cooked by aunt Nadez who cooked all day for the family and the extended family. Us 4 were not the only ones of course. There was a constant influx and outflux of people in the house: cousins, aunts and uncles, nephews, nieces, relatives of all kind! and me the adopted niece :) A few times we went out to enjoy grilled "anticuchos", which is a popular grilled skewed meats (all kinds of meat with beef hearts being the most popular) and comes with a boiled potato at the end of the skewer. After the salty food, we'd have a warm api and a pastelito! (described previously in my La Paz post) Yummm!

Although it only lasted two short days, we had the time of our lives!!! Especially that it was the first time for all Gustavo, Kelly and I !!! The Bolivians and I were all thrilled and left exhausted but with a satisfied smile :)


Note: The Carnaval of Oruro came to constitude a model of  "Masterpieces of Oral Heritage and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" (UNESCO)